Joan Rivers made news recently when she walked off of a CNN set during an interview with Fredericka Whitfield.

When Whitfield suggested that Rivers could be mean, the latter informed the former that under no circumstances should she be interviewing someone, like Rivers, for whom comedy is a calling.

Whatever else may be said of Joan RiversI, for one, have never had much to say about her at allthis much seems certain: The woman knows that of which she speaks when it comes to her craft.

That is to say, she is acutely aware of the purpose, the invaluable purpose, served by humor. Far from being mean, the value of the joke lay precisely in its ability to neutralize lifes sting, to siphon off some of the tragedy of the circumstances into which Earthly existence seems hell-bent upon thrusting us.

Maybe, just maybe, this is the point.

As Jesus said of Hell, in it there will be constant wailing and gnashing of teeth. Hell is a laugh-free zone, a boiling cauldron of tears. Heaven, on the other hand, may also admit of tears. But the tears of Heaven are the fruits of joy, and the laughter that it calls forth promises to be as hearty as it is irresistible, for the inhabitants of Heaven will at long last recognize the seriousness with which we treated our lives on Earth for the follythe jokethat is has always been.

And here we may be getting to the heart of comedys import.

This world of ours is an uneasy mix of dust and divinity, evil and good, suffering and delighting. In short, it is an endless supply of intimations of both Hell and Heaven. Humor, I believe, is a hint of Heaven, an emblem of eternity.

Humor is every bit as much of a divine gift as any other, and an even greater gift than some. The Joke permits us to come as close as possible, in this life, to arresting the relentless flow of time by transforming a situation that would otherwise paralyze those who are at its mercy into an object of ridicule. It permits us, in other words, to defang and declaw the demons that haunt us, and to do so effortlessly, with a laugh.

The Joke makes the humorous into caricaturists. But while caricaturists select for their portraits specific individuals, the humorous, in contrast, focus their attention not just on individuals, but upon whole sets of circumstancesincluding and especially that most peculiar set of circumstances that we know as the human condition itself.

However, as Fredericka Whitfield revealed in her exchange with Joan Rivers, all of this has been lost upon this most humorless generation. For certain, much of life demands seriousness, but our cultures prevailing zeitgeistwhat we commonly refer to as Political Correctness (PC)demands not seriousness, but deadly seriousness.

In no place and at no time has the Joke been more needed than it is needed in a culturally, ethnically, racially, and religiously diverse society like the United States. Yet it is just such placescontemporary, incorrigibly PC, Western societiesthat have essentially banned it.

The Joke diffuses intergroup tensions. Whitfield couldnt have been further of the mark in suggesting that Rivers jokes foster mean-spiritedness. Just the opposite is the case: it is precisely in the Jokes almost unique power to deflate mean-spiritedness that its value is to be found.

Contrary to the conventional wisdom, racial, ethnic, and religious stereotypes are most decidedly not fictions sprung from thin air. They reflect enduring patterns among a significant number of a groups memberseven if (as is almost always the case) it is only a significant minority. When these stereotypes reflect positively on a group, all is good. When they are negative, though, there is no end to the inter-group conflict that they can so easily fuel.

The Joke extinguishes the match before it reaches the fuse. It fumigates the air, so to speak, by allowing us to laugh at, rather than hate, one other. There was a time, not all that long ago, when people, particularly Americans, took this fact for granted.

Times, sadly, have changed. Still, what has not changed is that peaceful inter-group co-existence is much better served by the Joan Rivers than the Fredericka Whitfields of our world.

Andrew Dice Clay would not be allowed to exist in today’s environment, that is for sure!

Also, can you imagine Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein, Monty Python’s Holy Grail, Peter Sellers The Party or Dr. Strangelove, or a host of other comedies from das gone past being made today?

No, they would not.

However, I bet I could sell a script to Hollywood about a Right-wing, whacky, slutty ex-governor from Alaska who gets killed for her views by a person of color or sexual diversity and it would be a big hit with the Left.

What’s interesting about the Treason party is they will rage against politically incorrect jokes, but praise political decisions that destroy lives.

Read this list, try to remember if the Treasonists got mad over any one of these things, I can’t!

The Corruption and Lies of KING Obama

Obamas IRS destroying evidence
DACA Amnesty
Common Core
Opening border to gang members and drug dealers
VA intentional deaths of veterans
Negotiating with terrorists
Fast & Furious
SEAL Team 6
Obamacare would save the avg family $2500 per year
Forcing businesses to violate their religious beliefs
Violating the rights and sanctity of our Churches
Obamacare web site-cronyism
NSA acting as Obama Gestapo
17 Trillion in debt
Lies about Benghazi
Voter fraud
Shovel ready jobs
Intentionally trying to hurt Americans during the sequester
Intentionally trying to hurt Americans during govt shutdown
Blocking veterans from seeing their own memorials
Allowing illegals on mall during govt shutdown
Shutting down The Peoples House tours
We can keep our insurance if we like it
We can keep our doctors if we like them
Military not getting their votes counted
Supporting the Muslim Brotherhood with arms and money
DOJ spying on the free press
Not securing our borders
Spying on Americans on American soil with drones
SOLYNDRA
Picking winners and losers
IRS targeting conservatives
IRS targeting the Tea Party
Millions losing health care coverage
Increasing welfare rolls
Increasing disability rolls
Countless partys
Countless exorbitant vacations
Releasing illegals from prison
Unconstitutional recess appointment
NO budget for 5 years
Clapper lying to congress
Holder lying to congress
Failing to prosecute the New Black PantherReading our e-mail
War on women
Promoting race war
War between makers and takers
A123 Systems
Cash for clunkers

Her reaction looks like it came from having to deal with the deceptive PC liars for over a decade now. PC is outright lying to excuse bad human behavior so perps can continue to do whatever they want to whether it includes destroying a country, pounding a fist into the nearest white guy’s head if you’re black, or sodomizing children.

“...can you imagine Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein, Monty Pythons Holy Grail, Peter Sellers The Party or Dr. Strangelove, or a host of other comedies from das gone past being made today?”

Every now and then, I go to the bookshelf and blow the dust off of Dan Jenkin’s “Semi Tough” to remind myself that we once lived in a better time. The book drips with anti-PC humor, and would never get published today.

Never could stand Joan Rivers. Don’t think she is funny at all. I guess there is something wrong with me then?

To me she is the predecessor to women so-called comedians like Sarah Silvermand and Sandra Bernhardt. Unfunny, vile, uncouth, disgusting and yest ‘mean’.

I understand that in comedy it’s to each his own. But I don’t see why I have to apologize for hating that kind of ‘comedy’. For the record, I don’t like male comedians that use ‘mean’ as their schtick.

I understand that women comedians are held to a different standard and some feel they have to be just as vile and disgusting as male comedians of their ilk. I get that.

Also, can you imagine Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein, Monty Pythons Holy Grail, Peter Sellers The Party or Dr. Strangelove, or a host of other comedies from days gone past being made today?

Maybe it’s a little on the old side for many, but I like to remember “Song of the South” which may not be comedy, but should bring thoughts of joy and happiness to the minds of all, but unfortunately is locked up pretty tight, when it comes to a re-release. Uncle Remus, brer rabbit, the tar baby, and the music, I grew up with. So I guess that means Walt and all of us seniors are just a loverly bunch of coconuts.

Oh I agree. Comedy is there for the ‘take down’. I get that. But there are many ways to do that, some of them quite subtle.

To me, there are just some comedians who are not just not funny. Rivers is one of them. I don’t object to the gist of what she is doing (and other comedians) but it’s her style that I don’t find funny at all.

I am a political (conservative) comedian and I know from my friends and colleagues just how much it is destroying it. But this, if course is the Leftists goal. Real Alinsky — ridicule is on of his rules. If you can't ridicule the Liberals (who are truly ridiculous) then the Leftists own that power.

Rickles and Newhart used to do some of this in their stuff as well where they ridiculed and cursed at people in the audience. I found Rivers a “bridge too far” for me on many occasions - that and her voice just grated on me. Diller had a similar effect. I couldn’t stand that foul mouthed semi-redhead (not sure if it was Sara or Sandra). Wasn’t a fan of Clay.

Carlin I was ok with for the most part. Kinnison was hilarious but you could only take so much.

Cosby - now there was a comedian. The dentist scene and the “dad is great” skit are my favorites.

Carol burnet and crew - siamese elephants anyone? I show that to my kids and they laugh so hard they nearly pee their pants.

You can be clean and funny but you have to work at it.

37
posted on 07/14/2014 11:33:39 AM PDT
by reed13k
(For evil to triumph it is only necessary for good men to do nothings)

I understand that women comedians are held to a different standard and some feel they have to be just as vile and disgusting as male comedians of their ilk. I get that. But I dont have to like it.

Jerry Lewis once said that women & comedy don't really mix. Stand-up, anyway. A woman can be a comic actress, but not a comedienne. Probably the nature of the beast -- really good comedy will be either cruel or coarse, "unfeminine" traits.

Hate to say, but I think he's right. The classy comediennes like Lucille Ball or Carol Burnett had started out in other ventures. Lucille Ball had been a dancer -- & a beautiful woman. They had a grace & elegance to them. I find the Jewish comediennes (I'm Jewish, BTW) irritating, shrill & vulgar.

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